Roasting · FFET10433
Zhi (roasting over an open fire)
Zhi cooks food with direct heat from a fire, with attention to heat, distance, and turning.
Cooking food by dry heat over charcoal or a fire, or in an oven.
Zhi is a technique for roasting meat or fish with direct heat from a fire. Recorded methods include roasting at a distance over a gentle fire while turning continuously, basting fish with herb juice, and searing one side of beef close to the fire before slicing it. The relevant texts supply no dates, so they do not establish when the technique began.
What
Zhi roasts meat or fish with direct heat from a fire. Food may be threaded onto spits or held close to the fire.2,3
When
The word zhi appears in an old poem describing a modest feast, and an agricultural treatise devotes a chapter to its methods. The consulted texts do not supply dates for either work, so they establish no earliest year.1,2
Where
The available textual evidence concerns northern China, but it neither distinguishes regional methods nor establishes a place of origin.2
How
The suckling pig instructions call for a gentle fire, distance from the heat, and continuous turning. Fish is basted with herb juice; one beef method sears a side close to the fire until pale before slicing. The chapter also includes oil-fried meat patties called bing zhi, so its methods are not all forms of direct-fire roasting.2
Why
The ancient record states only the method of gentle fire and continuous turning and gives no reason; judging from the method, the aim is to heat all sides more evenly.2
Impact and influence
Modern cooking classifications include zhi kao, or grilling, as cooking with direct radiant heat, typically on skewers over charcoal. It is listed separately from oven baking.3